Water Cooler

In a serendipitous moment for Twitter, the microblogging site announced two new features—group direct messages and native video sharing—on Tuesday as Facebook and Instagram fended off reports that hackers had infiltrated their systems after their services were knocked offline for parts of Monday night.

The task of writing internal memos about layoffs or “restructuring” and similar crises that threaten livelihoods usually falls to PR and HR professionals. It’s a painful, difficult task, but it’s part of what they signed up to do.

It’s tempting, of course, but staying at home due to a severe storm isn’t an excuse to binge watch “True Detective” on HBO or curl up with some guilty pleasure. It’s pretty much a normal workday, but with a bit of a spin on what you get accomplished.

The New England Patriots could not make ‘Deflategate,’ the still-developing story about the team using deflated footballs during Sunday’s AFC Championship Game go away. Watching how the Patriots handle full-on damage control mode should provide professional communicators with some key crisis communications lessons.

A picture is worth a thousand words, we’re told. So what’s the return for lush, well-crafted video programming that helps get your message out? Brands and organizations of all stripes are starting to ramp up … | MORE »

On Tuesday, Facebook announced an effort to clamp down on “hoaxes” and fake news stories, which are known to spread rapidly through the network’s more than 1 billion users. What does this mean for PR and communications professionals?

As keynote speaker at PR News’ Feb. 11 Google Conference, Sean Gardner will share practical tips on how he builds his social presence and discuss why focusing on yourself and your own message can be self-defeating.